You or Someone You Love

December 1, 2022

One in four women, trans men, and nonbinary indivivduals in the United States has at least one abortion by the age of 45, but in the post-Roe v. Wade United States, stigma and criminalization make the physical and emotional support of these people precarious at best. An abortion care worker, doula, journalist, and reproductive rights advocate, Matthews aims across gender, race, and class lines in this guide to abortion care.

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March 27, 2023
Abortion doula Matthews normalizes abortion experiences in her compassionate, affirming debut. She opens by describing her own abortion, including her decision process leading up to it, the medical care she received, and the complex knot of emotions she experienced (of the procedure itself, with her partner and clinic colleagues beside her: “I feel so many frightening, ugly, sharp-edged, hollow things, in these last moments of my pregnancy. But I don’t feel alone”). The author assesses abortion from various perspectives, with mixed results: a strong section positions abortion as a form of “reproductive justice” and highlights the need for readily available “tools of reproductive power,” such as sex education and birth control; elsewhere, a discussion of abortion and sex suggests that “unintended pregnancy is not a weakness or a moral failing” but only superficially asks readers to consider how their sex lives might change if pregnancy choices were met with acceptance. Matthews is at her best when assessing ways to support those considering or recovering from an abortion (food, flowers, or a letter, “even if you’re afraid of being cheesy”) and when she leans into the messy, sometimes-contradictory emotions that often get left out of the abortion discussion. Readers looking to support loved ones or offer themselves grace will find Matthews a wise guide.

Starred review from May 1, 2023
An "abortion care worker" describes an ecosystem of activists working toward reproductive justice. "Forget the abortion care we need," writes abortion doula, mother, and clinic worker Matthews. "What is the abortion care we dream of? How can we...sustain that dream care, in our own communities?" In this powerful treatise, the author examines the status of American abortion before and after the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022. Matthews starts her exploration of reproductive justice--a term coined by women of color that describes the set of conditions necessary for pregnant individuals to be able to both give birth to and raise children in peace and safety--with the story of her own abortion, which required both pills and an "in-clinic procedure" to complete. Using this experience as context, the author introduces readers to her community of abortion care workers, which includes fund providers, who connect individuals who need abortions with the money necessary to do so; herbalists who create homemade abortifacients for communities with little access to clinics or drugs; Muslim and Jewish leaders who consider abortion to be holy; and self-described witches, who create ceremonies to release the pain abortions sometimes cause. Throughout, Matthews strives to center the knowledge and narratives of Black and brown practitioners because they not only bear the brunt of reproductive violence; they also come up with some of the most creative solutions to patriarchy-induced problems. The result is a text that substantially widens our ideas of what abortion does, can, and should look like. The author's tender voice exudes knowledge and forgiveness, turning a controversial topic into something bordering on cozy. Though the prose is occasionally overwritten, the narrative reflects a refreshing paradigm shift, providing a comprehensive view of abortion in modern America. A moving, timely vision of what abortion care could become in the U.S.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from April 15, 2023
Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, the realities of reproductive health care in the U.S. have been turned upside down as well. In an attempt to shout human truths above the abstract din, abortion doula Hannah Matthews offers this fierce, beautiful, compassionate book, equal parts memoir and informative nonfiction. Matthews, a reproductive health-care worker, writer, wife, and mother, also works as an abortion doula for people looking to become un-pregnant. Many people are familiar with birth and death doulas, who guide patients through the emotional and physical processes involved with childbirth and the end of life. Abortion doulas perform similar tasks for people undergoing the stress of a surgical or medical abortion. Matthews starts by sharing her own abortion experience, comforting readers and building trust with her brave, heartfelt, and gorgeous prose. The details of her procedure also form the framework for the rest of the book, wherein she outlines the real truths of abortion in general: deeply complex emotional experiences, logistical difficulties, social inequities, political and legal repercussions, and the heroes sacrificing everything for the reproductive freedom movement. Readers will leave with much knowledge--and a new role model and friend in Matthews.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.